The Medicine of Slowness: Why Rest Is More Than Self-Care
We live in a culture that glorifies speed—fast answers, fast healing, fast returns. Even rest is often framed as something we “earn” after burnout, not something we’re innately worthy of. But in the work I do—with trauma, with the nervous system, with altered states of consciousness—I’ve come to understand something much deeper:
Slowness isn’t a luxury. It’s a medicine.
The Nervous System Doesn’t Heal in a Hurry
When someone is recovering from trauma or navigating a major transition, they often say, “I should be over this by now.” But healing isn’t linear, and it’s rarely fast. Our nervous systems need time—not just to feel safe, but to trust that safety is real and sustainable.
The same is true for integration after a psychedelic experience. Insight can happen in a flash—but embodiment unfolds over weeks, months, or even years. Rushing this process can bypass the very transformation we're seeking.
True healing requires permission to slow down—to listen, integrate, and allow what’s been held tightly to soften.
Rest Isn’t Passive
Rest doesn’t mean doing nothing. It means doing something radically countercultural: honoring your rhythms.
It means:
Letting your body lead instead of overriding it with productivity
Pausing long enough to notice what you feel
Allowing grief, clarity, or insight to arrive in their own timing
Reclaiming spaciousness as a form of intelligence
In my work, rest is part of the therapeutic process—not a reward at the end. It’s how we begin to reset the patterns of urgency, over-responsibility, and survival that so many of us carry.
Slowness and Spiritual Practice
Across many wisdom traditions, slowness is sacred. Silence, ritual, breath—none can be rushed. Whether it’s grief tending, integration, or psychedelic healing, time and presence are essential ingredients. When we go slow, we hear more. We feel more. And often, what we thought was confusion is simply clarity that hadn’t been given space to surface.
Why This Matters in Psychedelic and Somatic Work
In psychedelic healing, it’s common to want to “figure it all out” right away. But some of the most profound shifts don’t come from analyzing—they come from trusting the body’s wisdom and letting integration unfold on its own clock.
Slowness allows the body to catch up to what the mind has glimpsed. It allows the spirit to reorient. It allows you to rebuild trust—with yourself, with your process, and with the world around you.
This Is the Medicine
Rest is not something you earn by doing enough.
Slowness is not weakness, and healing is not a race.
Slowness is the medicine that brings you back to your body, your knowing, and your own natural pace…
and for many of us, that’s where the real transformation begins.
